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Peer Pressure	By : Meimi Category: Digimon > General Views: 1492 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Peer Pressure
- 1
Peer Pressure

A 'Kenkeru' Digimon Adventure 02 Slash/Shonen Ai

by Meimi

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STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon.

SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers for 02 (that's season 2 for the
uninitiated) up to and including the episodes involving the first
appearance of the Crest of Kindness.

SHONEN AI WARNING: This is a shonen ai fic and contains within it
romantic themes and hints of an intimate relationship between two
male characters. If this disturbs you in any way PLEASE do not
continue reading. And yes, I am sick and twisted, thanks for asking.

Please read my other fanfics 'What You Want' and 'The Words Left
Unsaid' (in that order) before reading this one. That way you'll know
what's going on.

_____________________________________________________________________

Motomiya Daisuke liked to think of himself as a man of action.
Someone who didn't wait on the sidelines for things to come to them,
but instead ventured forth to make things happen. And one way or
another he was going to get Ken Ichijouji on his team. That team,
of course, being the chosen children of the Digital world. He had
waited a few weeks to approach Ken about it, just to let Ken get his
head on straight about everything that had happened, certainly not
because Daisuke was hesitant about what Ken's reaction to him might
be. And so, being a man of action and all, Daisuke had skipped out on
school and was now patiently waiting for Ken's school to get out.

Daisuke grumbled in annoyance from his perch up in one of the trees
skirting the outer wall of Ken's school. He had climbed up into it
after having one too many close calls with a passerby. He certainly
didn't want to get caught and ruin all the planning he had put into
this. Though, he would feel a lot better about it if he had had the
guts to bring Chibimon along. But he hadn't wanted to risk the chance
of Chibimon talking him out of it. This was just too important.
Sighing heavily, he leaned back against the trunk of the tree and
dangled his left leg off of the branch. This was getting to be a
really boring wait.

Tapping his fingers rhythmically against the hall windowpane, Ken
frowned ever so slightly in thought. He had discovered Motomiya's
perch purely by accident. During lunch he had bent down to retrieve a
fluttering napkin from the ground and had noticed a glint of
reflected sunlight coming from a tree over by the school wall. An odd
occurrence to say the least since there shouldn't have been anything
reflective up in the tree. A more detailed examination of it from a
secluded spot on the school grounds had shown it to be the sunlight
reflecting off of a pair of goggles. The goggles that were quite
familiar and he would have instantly recognized the even if they
hadn't been in their usual spot on top of Motomiya's head.

Motomiya must be there to see Ken about something. There was nothing
else of interest at Ken's school to draw the holder of courage and
friendship to it, much less to skip his own school. The question was,
just what Motomiya wanted and whether it was worth risking a
confrontation to find out.

Ken shook his head, deciding against it and continued on down the
hallway. He didn't want to risk getting involved with any of the
other chosen children. To do so would put Takeru in a precarious
position whether things turned out well or not. On one hand, if
things turned out exceptionally bad it would likely force Takeru into
the position of having to choose between him or the other children,
Takeru's friends. On the other hand, if things turned out well and it
resulted in more contact with the other children it would put their
'relationship' in jeopardy of being found out. Both options would
most likely result in bad reactions from the other children one way
or another and it would end up hurting Takeru a great deal. So, in
conclusion it would be best for everyone involved if he just kept a
good bit of distance between himself and the others.

Really though, it was such a shame. Motomiya went to all that trouble
for nothing. It was rather amusing actually, in a twisted sort of
way. Ken smirked in good cheer as he made his way back to class.

A few hours later, Ken quietly put his books away as the other
students clamored around his desk to get out of the classroom as
fast as possible. They had gotten the hint quite some time ago that
he didn't want anything to do with them and that they should leave
him alone if they knew what was best for them. He was never
unpleasant about it, of course. He did have an image to maintain, but
intimidation in any form did wonders, and it hadn't been hard at all
to convince the teachers that certain individuals might be bugging
him. The other students knew better than to risk the wrath of the
adults.

He was quite undisturbed by the general student body as he languidly
made his way to the back of the school. Motomiya must be getting
somewhat frantic by now, what with Ken showing neither hide nor hair
through the front entrance. It was enough to bring a smirk of pure
sadistic glee to Ken's lips as he sauntered out the back entrance.

It was a pretty amusing ending to a rather dull day of school. Or at
least, it would have been if the teenager leaning up against the rear
gate hadn't been quite so recognizable. What did Ishida want now? Ken
resisted the urge to reach up and rub the fading bruises on his neck,
products of their last encounter, and simply stopped dead in his
tracks. He eyed the blonde warily and waited impatiently for whatever
was coming.

"Figured you'd show up back here," Yamato smirked humorlessly as he
raked Ken from head to toe with an appraising glance. "What with
Daisuke camped out in the front." His eyes narrowed dangerously as
the former Digimon Kaiser, who had been taking advantage of his
little brother for the past couple of weeks, stared back at him
stonily.

What the hell? Daisuke snarled silently as he dropped down out of his
tree. Where was Ken? Ken had been at school today, he had seen the
other boy in the yard during lunch break. So where was Ken now? Ken
had most certainly not come out the front door, otherwise Daisuke
would have seen him instantly. His eyes had practically been glued on
the entrance watching and waiting for Ken to show.

Wait a minute, was there a back door? "Aw crap," Daisuke muttered to
himself as he zoomed off, dodging in between curious students as he
headed towards the back. He stopped short of the rear gate, hiding
behind another tree as he peered over at the scene about to play
itself out before him. What the hell did Taichi's boyfriend want with
Ken? And why did they both look like they were literally about to
pound each other into the ground and then some?

"Is there something in particular you want Ishida?" Ken asked
sardonically. Feigning innocence, he tilted his head to the side and
smiled oh so sweetly before continuing, "Or were you just bored with
Yagami and decided to try your luck with me?"

"Just watch it Ichijouji," Yamato snarled out as he stalked up to
Ken. Grabbing fistfuls of the younger boy's uniform, he forcefully
dragged a smirking Ken menacingly close. "You're in enough trouble
now thanks to your messing with my little brother. Don't you even
dare to bring Taichi into this."

Widening his eyes in vast amusement, Ken dropped his book satchel
down off to the side. "Listen carefully Ishida, because I will only
say this once. Remove your hands from my person before I do it
myself. If you do not, I can assure you, I will be most unpleasant
about it and Takeru isn't here to save your ass this time," Ken
stated icily, a current of deadly calm lacing itself into each and
every syllable.

"Really now," Yamato drawled in believed superiority. "Looks to me
like I have the upper hand here." Judging the threat to be a rather
hollow one, he gave Ken a swift jerk and scowled darkly. "And don't
call him by his given name. You have no right to."

"Suit yourself," Ken murmured, his eyes narrowing into mere slits as
he delivered a quick jab to the older boy's solar plexus, instantly
following it up with a rough sweep of his arms knocking Yamato's grip
on his uniform loose. Stepping back slightly, Ken smiled pleasantly
as he kicked Yamato's feet out from under him and skillfully threw
the older boy over his shoulder.

It took several moments for Yamato to catch his breath, several
more before the spots stopped dancing in front of his eyes. When he
finally did come back to himself, he gulped unconsciously at the
poised weight pushing down on his throat and gazed up uncertainly
into amethyst eyes that seemed to glow from within with cruel
amusement at this turn of events.

"Now where were we?" Ken purred silkily as he pushed ever so slightly
down on the foot he had planted over Yamato's throat. Smiling in
delight as the older boy's eyes widened in what must be growing fear
at their position, Ken continued, "Oh yes, we were discussing my
relationship with Takeru. Don't you think Takeru should decide that
for himself?" Scowling, he pressed down a little bit harder and
added, "Just nod your agreement."

Satisfied when Yamato managed to give him a jerky nod, Ken propped
his elbow on his knee and smiled once more. "Well with that out of
the way, I think we both have come to an understanding. For Takeru's
sake let's not do this again." Frowning sadly, he said softly, "Older
brothers are very important and they shouldn't make their little
brothers worry about them. It's not a very nice thing to do."

Daisuke had watched the entire thing in dumfounded silence. He was
shocked beyond belief to say the least. Daisuke frowned thoughtfully
as he watched Ken quietly gather his book satchel and hastily walk
away. It was several more minutes before Yamato managed to peel
himself up off of the ground and leave as well. Who would have ever
thought those two would end up coming to blows over something. And
from what Daisuke could figure out, it had been about Takeru. Now
what would Takeru have to do with Ken? And what could it possibly be
for Yamato to come threaten Ken about? Frowning in growing suspicion,
Daisuke headed off for his own school. Knowing basketball practice,
Takeru would just be getting off when Daisuke arrived. And what
better way to get information than from the source?

~*~

Toweling his hair dry, Takeru strolled out of the locker room and
waved goodbye to his teammates before heading off to his school
locker. He would have taken his books into the locker room during
practice but Hikari had said she was going to be there late
developing some film to show off in art class. And since his best
friend was going to be there he might as well drop by and say hi to
her. It would be the nice thing to do since he hadn't really been
available to go out and do stuff of late.

He felt a bit guilty about not spending as much time as usual with
Hikari. And even worse, the fact that he couldn't really tell her why
he was being so out of touch. As much of a friend that she was,
telling anybody about Ken would be a bad idea. Just his brother
finding out about it by accident was bad enough, god only knows what
Miyako or Daisuke would think or do. Takeru grimaced at that
particular thought. No, letting anybody else know anything, no matter
how vague, about his relationship with Ken right now would be very
bad.

"Hey Takaishi!" Takeru turned around in wide eyed surprise as Daisuke
skidded into the hallway, obviously out of breath from running from
somewhere. Daisuke pointed an accusatory finger at Takeru and stalked
the rest of the way towards him. "You and me need to have a few
words."

"Uh... hi, Daisuke," Takeru blinked in confusion as he tried to think
of what could have possibly set Daisuke off this time. It couldn't
possibly be the jealousy over Hikari and he being best friends since
he hadn't really seen much of her in the last couple of weeks. A fact
that he was sure had Daisuke jumping for joy for a good while now.
Unless... nah, Hikari wouldn't talk to Daisuke about them. She had
much more sense than that. So what in the world could Daisuke be
upset about now? "Is something wrong?" he hesitantly ventured, hoping
to get some clue as to what this was all about.

"Is something wrong, he asks," Daisuke muttered darkly as he crossed
his arms over his chest. "Why yes, I do believe that something is
wrong because of you." Narrowing his eyes, Daisuke eyed Takeru
suspiciously. "I just happened to overhear the most 'interesting'
conversation, erm... fight, just a little while ago. And guess who it
was about? You."

"Me?" Takeru frowned as Daisuke's words just managed to confuse him
even further. Who would possibly be fighting over him? Nevermind the
fact that it was rude of Daisuke to eavesdrop, but telling that to
Daisuke would be like telling Mimi that pink wasn't her color. "I
take it you're going to tell me all about it?" Takeru sighed in
exasperation, crossing his own arms and settling in for the duration.

"Of course," Daisuke jutted his chin out defiantly before continuing.
"And you know the best part of it? It was your brother and Ken who
were fighting. You know Ken, as in Ichijouji Ken, the Kaiser?!"
Daisuke gritted his teeth and flailed his arms wildly to emphasize
his point.

"What?" Takeru blanched at that particular bit of information. Yamato
had been fighting with Ken over him? Oh great. They'd both deny it
when asked, but if Daisuke had seen it it must have happened. Why
couldn't Yamato just trust him to handle himself? It was frustrating.

"Not denying anything huh?" Daisuke murmured quietly to himself.
Cocking an eyebrow, he glared angrily at Takeru and asked, "So, mind
telling me just exactly what it is you've been doing with Ken
lately?"

"What?!" Both Takeru and Daisuke jerked around in shock at the
familiar outburst. They both grimaced and looked away as Hikari ran
up to them with a worried expression. "What's this about Ken?"

Daisuke tilted his head towards Takeru as he glared sourly at the
other boy, "Why don't you ask Takeru over there? He knows more about
it than I do."

"Takeru?" Hikari prompted as she looked up worriedly at her best
friend.

"Uhm... well," Takeru managed weakly as he frantically tried to think
of something to say that would soothe their worries and appease their
curiosity. He wasn't coming up with anything fast. This was exactly
the type of disaster he had wanted to avoid. Count on Daisuke to
screw everything up without even trying hard. He looked down guiltily
at his feet as Hikari watched him expectantly. He was such an idiot.
It didn't matter what he ended up saying, somebody was going to get
hurt because of it.

"Mister tongue tied over there has been 'seeing' Ken for awhile now,"
Daisuke supplied when it became obvious that no answer was
forthcoming out of Takeru. He rolled his eyes in aggravation as
Takeru shot him a death glare worthy of the Kaiser in question. "I
don't know for how long or why though. They didn't mention it."

"Seeing Ken?" Hikari whispered unbelieving at what she was hearing.
Her eyes widened as Takeru's odd behavior of late began to connect
with 'other' things in her mind now. "How long? No wait, don't answer
that. I don't want to know." Furious at herself for not figuring
things out sooner and at Takeru for not telling her anything, she
laid into her best friend, "Are you insane? Do you even know what
you're doing? You could get hurt or... or worse! Not only that, but
you're endangering the rest of us with your idiocy as well!"

Daisuke blinked numbly at what Hikari was spouting off at Takeru. Now
wait a minute, sure they were both angry about it, but wasn't that
going a little bit too far? He didn't like Takeru all that much, but
geez, even he knew Takeru wouldn't risk any of them for anything.
"Uh... Hikari, don'tcha think~"

"Shut up, Daisuke," Hikari growled out before turning the full force
of her anger back on Takeru. "Well? Mind explaining what you've been
doing with Ken, our enemy, without telling the rest of us?"

Takeru sighed wearily. This entire scenario was ridiculous. "Look,
I'm sorry I didn't tell you what's been going on. But I just can't
talk about it right now~" He was instantly cut off as Hikari's hand
impacted with his cheek.

Hikari stood frozen, staring up at where she had just slapped Takeru.
Why had she done that? She didn't know why. Shaking her head at the
tears she felt forming in her eyes, she hesitantly called out to him
in the smallest voice she had ever heard, "Takeru?"

Takeru rubbed his cheek angrily as he bit out, "Well, I guess there's
nothing more to say then." Refusing to even look at her, he turned
around and stalked off.

"Takeru? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I'm sorry... don't go..."
Hikari trailed off in defeat as she sank down to the floor. Hanging
her head in shame, she let the tears she had been holding back
cascade down across her cheeks.

Daisuke looked back and forth at Takeru's retreating form and Hikari
crying on the floor. That shouldn't have happened, and it was all his
fault, dammit. Well, immediate problem first. Sinking down next to
Hikari, he rubbed her back gently and waited for the tears to end.
She was probably going to beat the living crap out of him when she
was finished, but well, he deserved it this time. He could go out and
find Takeru later. Better to get beat by Hikari first before he let
Takeru kicks his ass for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

Up on top of the main building of the school, Patamon stretched his
wings and yawned tiredly. What was taking Takeru so long? He was
usually out by now. Grumbling impatiently, the little digimon climbed
to his feet and flapped off to see if he could find out what was
going on.

A quick glance at the basketball court showed that everybody was
already inside, so Takeru must be inside too, somewhere. But what was
taking so long? Hearing familiar voices, Patamon stopped and hovered
just above the doors opening up to the first floor hallway and
listened.

"I didn't mean to do it." That was Hikari. But why was she sniffling
so much? "I was just scared and angry at him for not realizing how
dangerous what he's doing is."

"Well come on Hikari, it's Takeru." That was Daisuke. But why would
Hikari be talking to Daisuke about Takeru? "He's not stupid. I'm
sure he knows what he's doing. Even if it is him." Him? Patamon
hoped they weren't talking about who he thought they were.

"But we don't know what all Ken is capable of!" Hikari burst out
before sniffling sadly again. Ken. Uhoh, that wasn't good. They
weren't supposed to know about Ken and Takeru. "Oh, I'm being an
idiot. I'm sure you're right. But I'm... scared. What if something
happens to him?"

"Come on Hikari! This is Takeru. If Ken does anything to him Patamon
will wail on his ass!" Patamon beamed at that. It was nice of
somebody to say that, even if it was Daisuke.

Hikari laughed. "Okay okay, you're right. I should go find him and
apologize." Apologize? What did Hikari need to apologize for?

"Well, he's probably still gonna be ticked. Here, I'll go with you.
We'll let him kick my ass for being a jerk to get rid of all that
anger and then you can apologize. Problem solved." Oh no, if Takeru
was upset Patamon really needed to find him before they did. It was
Patamon job to take care of Takeru after all, and Takeru wouldn't
forgive himself if he said something bad to them while he was still
upset.

Patamon hurriedly flapped off, having heard enough. A quick search of
the school failed to produce Takeru though. That meant Takeru wasn't
there anymore. But where did he go? Patamon didn't know. Takeru
wasn't the type of person who got angry very much at all. In fact, it
was very rare. So where would Takeru go when he was mad? Patamon
didn't know that either.

He needed to find Takeru before Hikari or Daisuke did. But how? None
of the others would know where he had gone. And asking Koushiro for
help on finding Takeru would bring up too many questions that he
wasn't willing to betray Takeru to answer.

Maybe... maybe Ken would know. Ken was smart, he could figure out
where Takeru had gone. Patamon hesitated for a moment in indecision
before purposefully flapping off towards the Ichijouji's apartment
building. If Takeru trusted Ken then he would too.

~*~

Yanking the chair out from under his desk, Ken slumped down into it
and pressed his forehead down against the cool surface of the
desktop. Everything had been fine, he had gotten through that
confrontation with Ishida without doing anything bad. He had managed
to get away without a problem and managed to get back home with no
worries. But the instant he had closed the front door of the
apartment behind him he had started shivering ever so slightly and it
had gotten exponentially worse as the seconds had ticked by until he
had been quite sure he was having a full blown panic attack.

Thankfully, his mother had been in the kitchen busy preparing dinner,
so at least he hadn't had to explain the problem he was having. Most
of the shaking had stopped the instant he had gotten to his bedroom
and closed the door, but he felt absolutely worn out now and there
were slight shivers still evident in his hands.

It was certainly a delayed reaction. But why? Ishida was nowhere near
being the type of person Ken would feel threatened by, far from it in
fact. Ishida was only slightly above average intelligence wise, quick
to anger and easy to manipulate with a minimum of effort. Ishida
hadn't even been worth his time in the Digital World. And yet, here
he was now just getting over from having a panic attack because of
Ishida.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Catching himself just as he started to bang his forehead against the
desk, Ken leaned back in the chair and stared thoughtfully up at the
ceiling. In truth, Ishida could become a serious threat to his and
Takeru's relationship. It wouldn't take all that much to ruin things,
a word or two to the others, a talk with either of their parents, a
rumor or a slip of the tongue. It wouldn't take much at all.

Ishida wouldn't want to see Takeru hurt though, so most of those
options were easily brushed aside. He wasn't that dense and he was
Takeru's older brother, which was most likely the actual problem.

Ishida Yamato was Takaishi Takeru's older brother and the same age
that Osamu would have been now. Older brothers... older brothers were
definitely not a subject Ken had ever wanted to deal with again. But
with Takeru there would always be Ishida and if he continued to be
with Takeru he would have to deal with that particular subject again
and again and again.

It was terrifying.

He could feel them now, the forgotten thoughts and emotions, terrible
things that he had buried away in his mind from that time. He had
ignored them as the Digimon Kaiser, he had had better things to do
than listen to his own sniveling. But now they wanted out again, and
each encounter he had with Ishida, each reminder that Takeru had an
older brother and that he didn't anymore made Ken remember they were
there, waiting to come out. He was frightened of what would happen
when they did, what they might do to him, what he might do because of
them.

Ken blinked blankly as he started to hear a slight scraping noise
coming from somewhere behind him. Narrowing his eyes, Ken tilted his
head off to the right and focused his hearing to find out where it
was coming from. The window, it was coming from the window and it was
getting louder and more... frantic. Yes, frantic was the word for it.
Humming in curiosity, Ken rose up from the chair and made his way
across his room. There was very little that could reach his bedroom
window. It had to either be a bird of some sort or a digimon. Though,
what a digimon would be doing in the real world was a mystery, unless
it was one of the other children's.

Ken frowned at the tan bat wings he saw flapping outside his window.
That would be Patamon, and Patamon was Takeru's digimon. Sighing, he
reluctantly reached up and unlocked the latch. The others he could
have easily ignored, but Takeru's partner he couldn't, not now.
Eyeing Patamon warily, Ken pulled his window open wide enough for the
little digimon to enter and cautiously asked, "What are you doing
here?"

"I need your help," Patamon stated plainly as he wearily flapped into
Ken's bedroom. It had been a rather long flight, but he had gotten
there as fast as he could. Now, if he could just get Ken to help him.

"What?" Ken asked instantly in surprise. What could Patamon possibly
need his help for? Unless there was something wrong with Takeru.
But wouldn't one of the others be better suited to go to for aid?
They were certainly more dependable than him. Weren't they? "What do
you mean?"

"I was waiting for Takeru after school, but he never showed up so I
went looking for him." Patamon looked down mournfully at the floor.
"I overheard Daisuke and Hikari talking about getting into a fight
with Takeru and Takeru running off mad. I don't know where he is, but
they're both looking for him now and I really need to find him
first." Looking hopefully up at Ken, Patamon hesitantly asked, "Can
you help me find him?"

Ken blinked curiously at the request. Now this was certainly odd.
"Well, I can track other D3s with my own," Ken trailed off as he
walked over to his desk and dug out his black digivice. Turning
around, digivice in hand, he stared at Patamon suspiciously. "But
why did you come here?"

Patamon blinked innocently as he answered, "Because Takeru trusts
you."

Ken froze solid at that. Takeru trusted him? Surely not. He certainly
wasn't the most trustworthy of people and his track record definitely
proved that point beyond a shadow of a doubt. But Takeru did say that
he... liked him. That was something, wasn't it? Shaking his head at
his whirling thoughts, Ken pushed them back out of the way for later
introspection. Right now, there were more important things to worry
about. "Do you know what they were fighting about?" Ken asked while
he set his D3 up for tracking, not really expecting an answer.

"You," Patamon gulped as Ken looked over at him in shock. "They were
fighting about you."

"Me?" Ken frowned when Patamon nodded silently in confirmation. The
others had been fighting with Takeru about him? Surely they didn't
know about his and Takeru's relationship. The only ways they could
have found out would have been from Takeru himself, Ishida or Patamon
and none of those options were likely. However, one of the others
might have seen them visiting each other's apartment. It seemed
unlikely, but not impossible. If the others had been fighting with
Takeru about him, then perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. "If
that's true, I doubt very much that he'll want to see me."

"What? Of course he'll want to see you." Patamon flew up in front of
Ken's face as he desperately babbled, "Takeru always wants to see
you. He's not mad at you. He's mad at the others for being mad at
you. Come on, we really need to find him before the others do. If he
says something mean to them right now, he'll never forgive himself.
Please?"

Ken froze yet again at what Patamon was telling him. Takeru always
wanted to see him? Ridiculous, surely.. Shaking his head once more
to stop himself from going too far with those particular thoughts,
Ken muttered flatly, "Fine then, let's go."

~*~

"Hikari!" Daisuke called out breathlessly as he raced after the
frantic girl. "Hey, hold on a sec!" He skidded to a stop beside her,
bent over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his
breath. After a moment, he looked up at her and smiled weakly. "The
store clerk back there," he pointed haphazardly down the street from
whence they had come, "said they didn't see anybody who looked like
Takeru go by."

"Where could he have gone?" Hikari bit her bottom lip worriedly as
she looked around. "I didn't mean to upset him so much. Where could
he be?"

"Well, he has to be here somewhere," Daisuke explained matter of
factly in hopes that it would relieve some of Hikari's worries. He
wasn't quite sure actually, but surely Takeru was around here
somewhere. "He wouldn't have just left Odaiba, so he has to be here
somewhere," he trailed off as he looked around for something,
anything that might help them find their missing friend.

"I don't know. I just don't know," Hikari shook her head slowly. This
just wasn't right and it was all her fault. Sensing Daisuke's
attention focusing on something else, she looked up at him curiously
and asked, "What is it?"

"Tell me I'm seeing things," Daisuke murmured quietly before grabbing
Hikari's shoulders and turning her around to look at what he was
staring at. "Tell me I'm not seeing that."

Hikari blinked and gasped as she too saw something rather
unbelievable. Seeing Ichijouji Ken hurrying off towards Rainbow
Bridge with a rather unresisting Patamon held in one arm and a
blinking digivice in his other hand certainly was up there near the
top on the 'You're Seeing Things' scale. But she was seeing it and
he was about to head out of view. "Come on," she said forcefully as
she grabbed Daisuke's arm and dragged him off in pursuit of Ken. If
Patamon was with Ken, then it was likely that they were headed
towards Takeru.

Ken frowned impatiently as he waited for the street light to change
before he could cross. Getting out of the apartment had been a lot
easier than he had thought it would be. In fact, his mother had been
quite agreeable after the mention of Takeru's name. It was something
odd to ponder upon later, as if he didn't have enough things to think
about as is. There was always something, his past, his feelings for
Takeru, whatever they might be, Takeru's feelings for him and so many
other things. It was getting to be a challenge to keep up with it
all.

Checking to make sure the way was clear after the light had changed,
Ken hurried across the intersection. He looked down at his D3 to make
sure that he was still going in the right direction. The indicator
was pointing off to somewhere just beyond Rainbow Bridge. Takeru must
be somewhere on the beach. Interesting.

His frown deepened as he looked down at the ever silent Patamon.
Shortly after leaving his apartment, he'd had to grab the little
digimon to avoid getting caught by a suspicious passerby. Someone
seeing a flying batpig hovering around him wouldn't have been a good
thing to happen, most definitely not. Strangely enough, he didn't
mind holding the little guy. It almost felt comforting for some odd
reason. He didn't really want to think about the why of it though, he
wasn't sure whether he'd like the answer or not.

Patamon knew he shouldn't be quite so quiet, but Patamon didn't
really know what to say. Ken was proving to be a lot different from
what Patamon had ever thought he would be, even with what Takeru had
been saying about him ever since... then. Sure, Ken had been a bit
commanding in their search for Takeru, but not overtly so. In fact,
everything Ken had done since they had left seemed to be fueled by
their mutual concern for Takeru. And when Ken had grabbed Patamon to
keep Patamon from being spotted fluttering around by another human,
he had even been gentle about it.

Even though Patamon had doubted Takeru somewhat about who the real
Ken might be and all, he couldn't really think that now because,
well, Ken seemed rather nice.

Ken finally parted from the city lights as he crossed the last street
separating everything from the beach. He glanced briefly up at the
multicolored lights covering the Rainbow Bridge as it arched high
over the bay in the distance before turning his attention back to the
beach. Hastily taking the closest set of cement stairs down to the
shadow shrouded sand, Ken smiled in triumph as he saw a familiar
figure huddled near the incoming surf. Takeru.

Patamon gleefully squirmed out of Ken's grasp. "Takeru!" he crowed
cheerfully as he quickly flapped over to his human partner. He had
been right to go to Ken for help!

Takeru whipped his head around in surprise at the unexpected
outburst. What was Patamon doing here? He blinked dumfoundedly as he
glanced past Patamon and saw Ken slowly walking across the sand
towards him. Ken was here? With Patamon? What in the world was going
on? He reached up to catch Patamon as the little digimon dived
towards him. "Hi," he ventured as he looked down at the bundle of
happy fur snuggling up against him. Scratching Patamon behind the
ears, Takeru looked up shyly at Ken as the other boy gazed down at
him with an unreadable expression.

After spending a few moments trying to gauge Takeru's reaction to his
being there, and failing, Ken settled down onto the sand next to the
blonde. He hugged his knees to his chest as he looked over at Takeru
questioningly. He was unsure of what to say or do. Asking if Takeru
was all right seemed a bit ridiculous considering who it would be
coming from. But he was concerned, even in the inky shadows he could
make out the telltale tracks of tears that had dried on Takeru's
cheeks.

It was Patamon who finally broke the silence between them,
exuberantly darting out of Takeru's arms to flap circles around them
both. "I knew Ken would find you! He's very smart, you know. Are you
all right Takeru? You're not hurt are you? Ken is here so I'm sure he
can make it better if anything's wrong!" Patamon babbled on happily
as he settled into the sand in front of Ken's feet, unaware of the
twin blushes he was producing on both of the boys' cheeks. Stopping
to catch his breath, Patamon frowned worriedly up at his partner and
asked again, "Are you okay Takeru?"

Takeru smiled weakly and chuckled, "I'm fine, really. It's all right
now." Reaching down to scratch Patamon behind the ears once more, he
hesitantly looked over at Ken and smiled warmly. "I do appreciate the
concern though, a great deal." He couldn't put into words what he was
feeling right now knowing that Ken had obviously helped Patamon find
him. It was a warm feeling that comforted him but also ached terribly
trying to guess at how Ken must have felt dealing with another
digimon so soon after everything. Grief wasn't something that stopped
hurting after just a few weeks, sometimes it even lasted a lifetime.

Shrugging ever so slightly, Ken smiled in return. Takeru seemed to be
over whatever it was that had happened earlier, but still. "Would you
like to talk about it?" he asked softly, not knowing what else he
could possibly do to help but offer an ear to rant at.

"No," Takeru answered as he shook his head and gazed back out towards
the water. He felt elated that Ken actually cared enough to ask, but
he didn't want to burden his friend with a problem that would most
likely upset him. No, it was better to just let the whole thing lie.
"It was just something silly, an overreaction really," Takeru trailed
off wearily as he leaned his head down on Ken's shoulder and closed
his eyes. "I'm glad you're here though."

Ken smiled at Takeru's whispered words. He couldn't help it really,
it was just wonderfully comforting right now. Sighing contentedly, he
gently leaned his head down against Takeru's and laced his fingers
together with the ones Takeru had trailed up his leg after petting on
Patamon. This was nice. No, it was better than nice. It was
indescribable.

Patamon smiled cheerfully up at his two humans. He had been right to
go to Ken just like Takeru had been right all along. So now he had
two children to take care of. Oh dear, that was a rather daunting
prospect. Patamon frowned slightly as he started adding up all the
variable on this particular undertaking. Takeru was good at getting
himself into trouble all by his lonesome and Patamon doubted very
much that Ken was any different in that respect. Oh my, if he wasn't
careful they would both end up turning his fur white from worry in no
time flat.

Hikari sighed heavily before turning around and walking away from the
scene she had just witnessed. She had been wrong, terribly, terribly
wrong and now she was going to have to figure out how to fix it. Oh
well, all she needed to do right now was get home. She could think
about everything later. Smirking, Hikari looked down at Daisuke whom
she was dragging along with her, one hand firmly placed over his
mouth. She just couldn't let him disturb those two, even if she was
just as curious as he was.

Daisuke glared up at Hikari sullenly. He didn't understand why she
didn't want him going down there to talk to those two. It was the
perfect set up, he could apologize to them both, possibly get his ass
kicked by them both and everything would have been fine after that.
But no, she wouldn't let him do that. Why not? Man, he just didn't
get chicks sometimes. Mentally smacking himself at using the dreaded
chicks word, that would get him smacked by just about anybody, he
squirmed out of Hikari's grasp when they stopped at the crosswalk.
"Why didn't you let me go down there and apologize? That's the reason
we were looking for Takeru in the first place," Daisuke asked
gruffly, hoping for something, anything to explain Hikari's odd
behavior.

"You don't disturb something like that, Daisuke," Hikari answered
simply as she waited for the light to change.

"Why not?" Daisuke fired back impatiently.

"You just don't," Hikari answered back in slight annoyance. She did
not want to have to explain things to Daisuke, not now and most
likely not ever. "We can apologize to Takeru at school in the
morning."

"Fine," Daisuke grumbled, recognizing a brick wall for what it was.
So Hikari didn't want to explain anything to him. Fine, he could
figure it out on his own... maybe. Scowling as the light turned,
Daisuke stalked across the street and resigned himself to walking a
silent Hikari home for the night.

~*~

Takeru's steps were lighter on his way to school in the morning, far
lighter than they had been in a long time. He was genuinely happy,
almost to the point where he was feeling euphoric about it. Yesterday
might have been pretty awful, but last night had been very different.
Ken had truly seemed concerned about him. And Patamon had acted
completely comfortable around Ken. It was enough to make him want to
jump for joy. But he still had that problem with Hikari and Daisuke,
not to mention his brother.

Shaking his head at his own misgivings, Takeru hurried into the main
school building and headed towards the locker room. One thing at a
time, that was about the only way to handle these type of situations.
Takeru stopped cold at the locker room doorway. Hikari stood leaning
up against the lockers waiting for somebody, him most likely. Well,
there wasn't much use in waiting. Steeling himself for another fight,
Takeru slowly walked into the locker room.

Hikari watched out of the corner of her eye as Takeru stopped short
of the doorway. It hurt, him having to think about whether he wanted
to see her or not. But, she deserved it for her irrational behavior
yesterday. Now, if he could just forgive her. Gulping nervously,
Hikari pushed herself off the lockers as Takeru slowly walked into
the room. "Good morning," she quietly ventured, testing the waters of
a sorts.

"Morning," Takeru softly returned as he turned towards his locker and
opened the door. Well, at least she hadn't yelled at him yet. Maybe
he could get out of here with his skin intact, then again he could
walk out with a matching bruise on the other side of his face too.
Looking over at Hikari as unobtrusively as he could manage, Takeru
tried to figure out what she was going to do next.

Hikari stared down guiltily at her feet as she scuffed her heel on
the floor. Okay, Takeru didn't seem like he was still angry about
yesterday, but he was being far too quiet. She was going to have to
be the first one to say something. Telling herself that she could do
this, Hikari looked up at Takeru decisively and started, "About
yesterday... I was acting like an idiot. I didn't mean what I said to
you. I'm sorry," she finished in a small voice, looking hopefully up
at Takeru.

Takeru blinked in surprise, he had been expecting anything but that.
She truly seemed apologetic about it. But why? He had pretty much
been keeping things from her. In the end, she had a right to be angry
with him about it. Though, slapping him for it had been a bit much.
"It~it's okay," he managed after a few moments.

"No, it's not!" Hikari burst out, angry at herself for this entire
thing and angry at him again for not being angry at her. "I shouldn't
have done that to you or said those things! I'm your best friend for
god's sakes. I should know better." Stopping for a second to catch
her breath, she continued on more calmly, "I do trust you to do the
right thing Takeru, even if some of the things you do worry me. So, I
was wrong and I'm very sorry about it. And I hope it doesn't mess
anything up with you," Hikari smiled, hoping Takeru caught the silent
'and Ken' that should've been added on to the end there.

Takeru found himself having to fight down a blush at that last bit.
Did she know everything about him and Ken? Hopefully not, he wasn't
quite sure he could deal with someone else knowing about that just
yet. Smiling to show his acceptance of her apology and that they were
all right now, he told her, "Really Hikari, it's okay. Everything's
fine."

Hikari lit up with a brilliant smile. That was taken care of now,
thank god. "Okay, I need to go to the dark room to pick up some stuff
so I'll see you later." Her smiled widened in relief as she gave him
a quick hug before scampering off. She slowed down slightly as she
exited the locker room and gave Daisuke the best 'good luck'
expression she could muster before heading off down the hallway.

Daisuke carefully peered around the doorjamb to get a good impression
of what he was about to walk in on. Okay, Takaishi seemed to be in
a good mood thanks to Hikari, so here goes. Bracing himself for what
was to come, Daisuke walked stiltedly into the locker room and called
out, "Hey Takeru."

Takeru looked over at Daisuke suspiciously. What could Daisuke
possibly want now? Sighing in annoyance and a want to get this over
with as quickly and painlessly as possible, Takeru asked, "What do
you want Daisuke?"

"Erm, well... about yesterday," Daisuke started off, taking Hikari's
lead as well as he could manage, "Look, I'm sorry. I was acting like
a jerk. Okay?"

Takeru frowned at this unexpected turn of events, more suspicious now
than ever. "Why are you apologizing to me? It's no secret that you
don't like me. So why apologize?" He crossed his arms and scowled,
waiting for whatever answer Daisuke might actually produce.

Whirling around with his back to Takeru, Daisuke growled quietly and
crossed his arms defensively. "Okay, so we all know I'm an impulsive
idiot. I've never denied it." Sighing in defeat, he threw his arms up
in the air and turned around to stare Takeru straight in the eyes.
"I'm jealous okay? I've always been jealous. You're a nice guy and
everybody likes you and you never screw up. Not like me." Drooping
mournfully at the weight of his confession, Daisuke continued, "So I
screwed up again. I am sorry. That's worth something, isn't it?"

Takeru blinked dazedly in absolute shock. That, he had not been
expecting either. Who knew Daisuke had it in him. Wow, people could
really surprise you at times. Coming back to the here and now as
Daisuke rolled his eyes and started turning away dejectedly, Takeru
softly said, "Thank you. Apology accepted."

"Cool!" Daisuke yelled out cheerfully as he jumped up and down with
his usual excessive energy. "So we're cool now? That's cool!" Daisuke
babbled gleefully, not waiting for any further answers from Takeru.
"So anyway, I gotta go now. See ya later!" Daisuke managed to get out
before he zoomed off to inform Hikari that everything was kosher now.

Takeru shook his head in bemusement as he watched the dust settle
from Daisuke's hasty exit. That had been odd, but he was pretty happy
now that that was out of the way. At least now he knew Daisuke and
Hikari weren't adverse to him being around Ken. Of course, there was
still his brother, but that would have to be handled later, much
later. Smiling softly, Takeru gathered up his things for the day
while wondering what Ken would think about these turn of events.

It was certainly an interesting and rather pleasant start to the day.

_____________________________________________________________________

Wow, a whole fic without any sex in it, a definite accomplishment for
me. And well, from the end we can all see that I'm going to be
continuing with this storyline for awhile yet. Right? Yamato still
has to pay up for his unwelcome protective streak. The poor dear, I'm
being so mean to him. Ohohoho!
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